Brain Tumor Removal Ends Six Months of Unexplained Pain
When the headaches started in September 2024, 36-year-old Amanda Hyne chalked it up to allergies. Or maybe a sinus infection that was lingering longer than usual. But by October, the headaches had worsened and were now punctuated with extreme spikes of pain that “felt like someone was taking an ice pick to my head,” Amanda says. She made an appointment with an ear, nose, and throat specialist, who recommended she see a neurologist. But the wait time for a neurologist was too long, so Amanda decided just to push through the pain until she could get an appointment.
By early November, the pain spikes were happening daily, the headaches were almost nonstop, and Amanda was so tired she couldn’t function without taking several naps—and an over-the-counter migraine medication that contained aspirin, acetaminophen, and caffeine—every day. “I had a toddler and a preschooler and a full-time job. I just figured all parents were tired and maybe I was starting to struggle with balancing everything,” says Amanda, a psychotherapist at the Helmsley Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital. “I was feeling pretty down on myself and my therapist (also at Mount Sinai) validated that these symptoms were not normal or a matter of willpower, and that I deserved to figure out what was going on medically,” Amanda says. She thought perhaps her fatigue was making the headaches worse in a vicious cycle. But it was all very unusual for someone ran at least 10 miles a week and was normally very social.
Amanda reached her tipping point on a business trip to Australia. After a fulfilling and busy conference, Amanda took a day to relax at the beach with her colleagues and husband, Mike, but she forgot to bring her headache medication. Amanda attributed her worsening symptoms to jetlag and a packed itinerary, but her headaches were so bad that she couldn’t function without lying down with a towel over her eyes.
The Lifesaving Procedure
When she got back to the United States, Amanda saw her internist, who sent her to a local neurologist. This specialist found that Amanda had no balance or speech problems, and she thought that Amanda might be experiencing chronic migraines. But because of the severity of the headaches, the neurologist performed a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test.
By this point, it was February, six months after the pain had started. The MRI results showed a very large noncancerous (benign) tumor called a hemangioblastoma. This tumor was pressing on the brain, preventing spinal fluid from draining out. The combination of the tumor and fluid took up so much space in the skull that it moved her brain several millimeters to the side. This pressure on the brain was the reason for Amanda’s headaches and fatigue. “It was really validating to see the imaging,” Amanda says. “It was helpful to actually see what was causing all the pain and that it wasn’t my fault. I was so grateful that she took my symptoms seriously and ordered an MRI.”
The neurologist referred Amanda to a neurosurgeon, Raj Shrivastava, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Shrivastava reviewed the MRI and determined that, indeed, he had to remove the tumor. “The moment I met Dr. Shrivastava, I felt at ease and comforted. He was both realistic and relaxed and assured me that this was treatable,” Amanda says. “People asked me if I was nervous to have brain surgery but I wasn’t—I just had to get that thing out of my head.”
The entire team moved very efficiently after the diagnosis. “I saw Dr. Shrivastava and had surgery scheduled in less than a week after I got the MRI results,” Amanda says.
Guided by the MRI image, Dr. Shrivastava removed the tumor and drained the fluid, which meant the chance of the tumor coming back (recurrence) was very low. “Neurosurgery is different than other surgeries, in that we do sophisticated monitoring throughout the procedure,” he explains. “It is important to monitor the brain and spinal cord function to see how they respond during the surgery; it’s called intraoperative monitoring.”
After the procedure, Amanda spent the night in the intensive care unit. The next morning, she moved to a standard room and began physical therapy. She went home the following day, about 48 hours after the procedure. “I couldn’t be more grateful to my Mount Sinai family for showing me the most competent, compassionate care from diagnosis to discharge,” Amanda says. At home, visiting nurses came to check on the incision, which healed well. She started going for walks, slowly increasing the length and speed, and playing tag with her kids.
Back to Her Life
“We did a MRI right after the procedure, which showed that we had removed the tumor completely. Then we did a follow-up MRI three months later to assess the healing. It showed that Amanda’s brain was back in place anatomically and the fluid was draining properly. “I would say she’s fully recovered,” Dr. Shrivastava says, “though I’ll continue to check up on her for at least three years.” At this point, Amanda went back to her job as a social worker at Mount Sinai.
Amanda appreciates all the care she received. “I have a full follow-up plan and a whole care team in my corner now,” she says. “I feel like I’ve come full circle; I’m a patient and a provider here. Everyone took such good care of me that it makes me proud to work here. Living a beautiful life fully would not have been possible without Mount Sinai.”
She continues to heal. Six months after the procedure, Amanda ran (albeit slowly) a 5K race. “I’m back to taking long walks and jogging, playing tag with my very active kids, and going to Yankee baseball games,” she says. “My goal is to run all six World Marathon Major races.”